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A mass is opera, isn't it?

The dramatic Confutatis and Lacrimosa
from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor (K. 626)
English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir
John Eliot Gardiner, conducting (Barcelona 1991)



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I like that clip but I think that an opera is a piece of theater (like with plots and acts performed in costumes, etc.), not just dramatic music.

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Actually 'opera' is the plural of 'opus', which means 'work'. Many operatic arias and choruses are performed outside
the context of the parent work and without costumes, and in that respect aren't much different from the purely musical mass.

Here's one of my favorites from Rossini:



Qui Tollis from Rossini's Missa di Gloria
Performed by Tenor Diego Florez, the Chorus Viennensis,
Vienna Boys' Choir, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
directed by Karel Mark Chichon.

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You're correct but I'm stuck in my own idioms so I don't think of those pieces as operas.
I like La Traviata and La Boheme well enough (as theatrical shows) but almost all operatic vocals turn me off.

I understand -- you'd prefer La Traviata had no singing in it. http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r..._999/smile.gif

Though I haven’t witnessed an actual show, one of my dreams is to watch an opera. I was amazed by the performers, how they managed to sing in great voice by doing an actions and dance in particular.

I like Carmen.

I've only been exposed to Opera through movies but like the idea of going to a concert at some stage.

I'd like to develop a greater appreciation for opera and choral music. Presently I have only two selections in my library - a vinyl collection of Beethoven's choral works (a segment of his Bicentennial Collection) and selections from my copies of the 2-volume 111-disc Deutsche Grammophon Collector's Edition.

For further listening, a friend has suggested highlights and excerpted aria/scenes from:

• La Boheme - Puccini
• Tosca - Puccini
• La Traviata - Verdi
• Rigoletto - Verdi
• Carmen - Bizet
• The Mariage of Figaro - Mozart
• Don Giovanni - Mozart
• The Magic Flute - Mozart

And as for individual singers (other than the obvious ones like Pavarotti, Domingo, Callas, etc.) he recommends:

• Rene Fleming
• Angela Gheorghiu
• Anna Netrebko
• Denyce Graves
• Susan Graham
• Anne Sofie von Otter
• Rolando Villazon
• Jose Cura
• SImon Keenlyside
• Bryn Terfel
• Jose van Dam
• Nathan Gunn

I'd love additional input regarding other suggested listening, key labels to watch for, conductors, choirs, etc.

http://i.imgur.com/Ck0vRua.jpg

[EDIT: UPDATE] I populated a custom RYM list of the highest-rated opera recordings of all time. I've compiled lossless archives of each recording and prepared a playlist of the operas for my 9-5s at the office. Looking forward to taking them in!

Wilhelm Furtwängler / Ludwig Suthaus / Kirsten Flagstad
Tristan und Isolde (1953)

Orchestra and of La Scala Opera House, Milan / Chorus of La Scala Opera House, Milan / Victor De Sabata
Teatro alla Scala: Tosca (1953)

Vienna Philharmonic / Georg Solti / George London / Kirsten Flagstad / Set Svanholm / Gustav Neidlinger
Das Rheingold (1959)

Philharmonia Orchestra / Philharmonia Chorus / Carlo Maria Giulini / Eberhard Wächter / Joan Sutherland / Luigi Alva / Gottlob Frick / Elisabeth Schwarzkopf / Giuseppe Taddei / Piero Cappuccilli / Graziella Sciutti
Don Giovanni (1961)

Philip Glass
Einstein on the Beach (1979)

Wiener Philharmoniker / Georg Solti
Salome (1962)

The Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra & Chorus / Dennis Russel Davies
Akhnaten (1987)

Wiener Philharmoniker / Wilhelm Furtwängler / Martha Mödl / Ludwig Suthaus / Leonie Rysanek / Ferdinand Frantz / Gottlob Frick / Margarete Klose
Die Walküre (1954)

It's not necessarily operatic, but I really like Three Voices for Joan La Barbara by Morton Feldman. I think you'd appreciate it if you haven't heard it already, isb.